The Liberty lacrosse field overflowed on April 15 as Flames Nation came out to watch the final regular season game for the men’s lacrosse team in a Midnight Mayhem matchup.
The Liberty Flames were able to handle the James Madison Dukes and soar into the playoffs with a 17-8 triumph in front of the home crowd.
What ended as a route of the Dukes, however, began with the Flames playing catch up. Liberty found itself down early on in the game with a 2-0 JMU lead.
The Flames would soon respond, with the first of multiple Liberty goals scored by Keaton Mohs and Daniel Newman. After JMU put the next goal in the net to put Liberty down 3-2, the Flames then caught fire and never turned back, managing to score four goals in a row in what turned out to be an 8-2 run.
“The message to the team never really changed at any point, whether it was before the game, after the first quarter or after halftime. It was just (that) we need to play our brand and our style of lacrosse,” Liberty Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. “Unfortunately, I felt like there were times where we weren’t playing our brand of lacrosse and things were a little bit slow paced. You never want to get out to a 0-2 deficit, but credit to the guys for taking control and pacing themselves out.”
The Flames saw major contributions from several players, but the one that stood out the most was the senior attacker, Cooper Branham. Branham netted four goals of his own in the victory and also facilitated for his teammates as he notched three assists.
Of his four scores, Branham most certainly had a favorite goal tonight.
“(JMU’s) goalie used to play for us, and when we scrimmaged them in the fall, he kind of had my number and saved a lot of my shots, and tonight, I missed high like four times, so when I had a step-down in the middle, I was like, ‘I’m not going to miss high or wide,’ and I just shot it as hard as I could in the dead middle of the goal, and it happened to go in,” Branham said.
“He’s been ‘Mr. Consistent’ for us for a long time,” McQuillan said of Branham. “We anticipate him to continue to have a great season as we push into the playoffs.”
The Flames’ goals continued to pour in the early morning hours, and while the Dukes attempted a narrow the deficit, a 17-8 final could not be prevented.
This victory against James Madison marks the Flames’ final game before the MCLA playoffs. The team finished the season ranked as the No. 3 team in the country and certainly looks to make some noise in the postseason.
Before setting their eyes on a national championship run, however, the Flames have a few spots they look to clean up before the postseason begins. This starts with limiting penalties, a factor that was a problem in the game against the Dukes.
“This was our last big test before things get serious,” Branham said. “Before we go to playoffs, we need to focus on getting four good quarters of lacrosse. We’ve been having two good quarters or three, but then a bad quarter.”
“These guys have had a great season,” McQuillan said. “Being ranked No. 3 in the country shows an opportunity to win us a championship. … I would’ve liked a more dominant performance tonight, but we feel pretty good about where we’re at.”
The team has never been able to cap off the regular season with a Midnight Mayhem game, but the team felt it was a great way to wrap it up.
“The guys love this game,” McQuillan said. “I underestimated how much the guys appreciate it and the atmosphere it creates. … It’s just a different environment to play under, and the guys have really come to enjoy the experience.”
“It was awesome,” Branham said. “Everyone loves playing in front of the fans and just how loud it gets. It’s really awesome we got to have the chance again this year, and it’s fun when you make a big play, and the crowd goes nuts.”
Willard is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on Twitter